Shelf fixing device for a refrigerator

ABSTRACT

A shelf fixing device for attaching a shelf to an internal wall of a refrigerator is provided. The shelf fixing device includes a vertical supporting plate, a horizontal supporting plate, a stopping plate, and hooking device. The hooking device includes a cylinder part with first and second ends, a plurality of hooking gap, and a predetermined number of protrudes extending substantially perpendicularly and radially from the side surface the cylinder part. The first end of the cylinder part is attached to the second wall of the vertical supporting plate. The protrude is aligned with the second end of the cylinder part. The hooking gap is defined by the protrude, the side of the cylinder part, and the second wall of the vertical supporting plate. The shelf clip is adapted to detachably attach the shelf clip to the internal wall of the refrigerator. The shelf clip is made of plastic.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a shelf fixing device for a refrigerator. More particularly, this invention relates to a shelf clip to support a shelf between the internal walls of the refrigerator.

A refrigerator can be defined as a device that isolates a certain volume of space from the vast environmental space and cools down the temperature in the isolated volume of space lower than the environmental space by means of a well-known heat pump.

Cooled down or not, the isolated volume of space is a chunk of extended empty volume. In order to make the most of the cool space, compartment of space according to the various needs is desired. A traditional and convenient way of comparting space is to use shelves.

Under the universal gravitation of Isaac Newton, however, a shelf cannot stay in the air for itself. A shelf needs some mechanical supports extended from the confining wall of the isolated space. The most well-known form of the mechanical support is a shelf clip.

In the refrigerator industry, a lot of different types of shelf clips have been used. But, the isolated and cooled space is a harsh place for mechanical parts. Omnipresent moisture, for instance, is a fate of the refrigerators. That moisture attacks the metal, the popular material for the shelf clip, and causes it to rust.

Another more serious problem resides in the mechanism to attach the shelf clip to the internal wall of the refrigerator. Metal shelf clip is strong and tough against a mechanical stress. Also, it is tough against a human's muscular effort to install it on the internal wall of the refrigerator.

Accordingly, a need for a shelf fixing device has been present for a long time. This invention is directed to solve these problems and satisfy the long-felt need.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention contrives to solve the disadvantages of the prior art.

An objective of the invention is to provide a shelf fixing device.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shelf fixing device which is easy and convenient to install and uninstall the shelf clip.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a shelf fixing device which is immune to rusting damage.

For the purpose of the invention, a shelf fixing device for attaching a shelf to an internal wall of a refrigerator is provided.

The shelf fixing device includes a vertical supporting plate, a horizontal supporting plate, a stopping plate, and hooking device.

The vertical supporting plate includes a first wall and a second wall separated by an edge.

The horizontal supporting plate includes a top surface and a bottom surface separated by an edge, and a part of the edge is attached to the first wall of the vertical supporting plate.

The stopping plate is a first wall and a second wall separated by an edge, and the a part of the edge is attached to the edge of the horizontal supporting plate upward from the top surface.

The hooking device includes a cylinder part with first and second ends, a plurality of hooking gap, and a predetermined number of protrudes extending substantially perpendicularly and radially from the side surface the cylinder part. The first end of the cylinder part is attached to the second wall of the vertical supporting plate. The protrude is aligned with the second end of the cylinder part. The hooking gap is defined by the protrude, the side of the cylinder part, and the second wall of the vertical supporting plate.

The vertical supporting plate, the horizontal supporting plate, the stopping plate, and the hooking device are integrated into one body and form a shelf clip.

The hooking device is adapted to detachably attach the shelf clip to the internal wall of the refrigerator. The shelf clip is made of plastic.

The first wall and the top surface of the horizontal supporting plate meet each other substantially perpendicularly.

The shelf fixing device further includes an accepting hole and a shelf board.

The accepting hole is provided on the internal wall of the refrigerator for accepting the hooking device, having a shape on the internal wall adapted to accept the hooking device and to lock the hooking device by rotating the hooking device by a predetermined angle.

The shelf board includes a top surface, a bottom surface, and a plurality of ends, and each end of the shelf board is adapted to straddle the horizontal supporting plate and the stopping plate.

The accepting hole includes an entrance part, a holding bottleneck part, and a backroom allowing the protrude's rotation. The depth of the holding bottleneck part is commensurate with the thickness of the internal wall of the refrigerator. The depth of the holding bottleneck part is smaller than the thickness of the internal wall of the refrigerator.

The shelf straddles three or more shelf clips.

The shelf board further includes a plurality of recess on the bottom of the shelf board, and the recess has a shape adapted to partially accept the horizontal supporting plate and the stopping plate.

The protrudes are disposed evenly around the circumference of the cylinder. At least one of the protrudes is aligned vertically upward from the center of the cylinder part. The predetermined number of the protrudes may be two or more.

The hooking device has two radial positions including an inserting position and a locking position.

The angle between the inserting position and the locking position is determined by the number of the protrudes.

At least one of the protrudes is aligned vertically upward from the center of the cylinder part in a locking position.

The shelf fixing device further includes a propping plate for propping the horizontal supporting plate against the gravitational force.

The propping plate is right triangular. The propping plate includes a first leg part, a second leg part, and a hypotenuse part. The first leg part is attached to the bottom surface of the horizontal supporting plate, and the second leg part is attached to the first wall of the vertical supporting plate. The propping plate meets the vertical supporting plate and the horizontal supporting plate substantially perpendicularly. The propping plate may be integrated with the vertical supporting plate and the horizontal supporting plate.

The advantages of the present invention are: (1) the shelf fixing device is convenient to install and uninstall since just rotating the clip will be enough to attach to the wall or detach it from the wall; (2) the shelf fixing device is strong against the harsh and moist environment inside the refrigerator; (3) the shelf fixing device is mechanically strong enough to support a shelf board fully loaded.

Although the present invention is briefly summarized, the fuller understanding of the invention can be obtained by the following drawings, detailed description and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a refrigerator with shelf clips and a shelf according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a shelf clip according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a front view of the shelf clip;

FIG. 4 shows a side view of the shelf clip;

FIG. 5 shows a rear view of the shelf clip;

FIG. 6 shows a top view of a shelf;

FIG. 7 shows a bottom view of the shelf;

FIG. 8 shows an accepting hole on an internal wall of the refrigerator; and

FIG. 9 shows a cross-sectional view along the line IX-IX in FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a refrigerator 90 with a shelf 30 installed by shelf clips 10. FIGS. 2 through 5 show a shelf clip 10.

The shelf fixing device 100 for attaching the shelf 30 to internal walls 92 of the refrigerator 90 is provided.

The shelf fixing device 100 includes a vertical supporting plate 12, a horizontal supporting plate 14, a stopping plate 16, and hooking device 18 as shown in FIGS. 2 through 5.

The vertical supporting plate 12 includes a first wall 21 and a second wall 22 separated by an edge 23.

The horizontal supporting plate 14 includes a top surface 24 and a bottom surface 25 separated by an edge 26, and a part of the edge 26 is attached to the first wall 21 of the vertical supporting plate 12.

The stopping plate 16 is a first wall 27 and a second wall 28 separated by an edge 29, and a part of the edge 29 is attached to the edge 26 of the horizontal supporting plate 14, extends upward from the top surface 24 of the horizontal supporting plate 14.

The hooking device 18 includes a cylinder part 42 with a first end 41 and a second end 43, a plurality of hooking gap 44, and a predetermined number of protrudes 45 extending substantially perpendicularly and radially from the side surface the cylinder part 42. The first end 41 of the cylinder part 42 is attached to the second wall 22 of the vertical supporting plate 12. The protrude 45 is aligned with the second end 43 of the cylinder part 42. The hooking gap 44 is defined by the protrude 45, the side of the cylinder part 42, and the second wall 22 of the vertical supporting plate 12 as shown in FIG. 4.

The vertical supporting plate 12, the horizontal supporting plate 14, the stopping plate 16, and the hooking device 18 are integrated into one body and form the shelf clip 10.

The hooking device 18 is adapted to detachably attach the shelf clip 10 to the internal wall 92 of the refrigerator 90. The shelf clip 10 is made of plastic. For the inside of the refrigerator 90 is saturated with moisture, which makes the metal parts rust.

The first wall 21 of the horizontal supporting plate 12 and the top surface 24 of the horizontal supporting plate 14 meet each other substantially perpendicularly.

The shelf fixing device 100 further includes an accepting hole 39 and a shelf board 30 as shown in FIG. 6 through 8.

The accepting hole 39 is provided on the internal wall 92 of the refrigerator 90 for accepting the hooking device 18, having a shape on the internal wall adapted to accept the hooking device 18 and to lock the hooking device 18 by rotating the hooking device 18 by a predetermined angle as shown in FIG. 8.

The shelf board 30 includes a top surface 31, a bottom surface 32, and a plurality of ends 33, 34, and each end 33, 34 of the shelf board 30 is adapted to straddle the horizontal supporting plate 14 and the stopping plate 16.

As shown in FIG. 9, the accepting hole 39 includes an entrance part 52, a holding bottleneck part 54, and a backroom 56 allowing the protrude 45 to rotate. The depth of the holding bottleneck part 54 is commensurate with the thickness of the internal wall 92 of the refrigerator 90. The depth of the holding bottleneck part 54 is smaller than the thickness of the internal wall 92 of the refrigerator 90.

The shelf 30 straddles three or more shelf clips 10 as shown in FIG. 1.

The shelf board 30 further includes a plurality of recess 53 on the bottom 32 of the shelf board 30, and the recess 53 has a shape adapted to partially accept the horizontal supporting plate 14 and the stopping plate 16 as shown in FIG. 7.

The protrudes 45 are disposed evenly around the circumference of the cylinder part 42 of the hooking device 18 as shown in FIG. 5. At least one of the protrudes 45 is aligned vertically upward from the center of the cylinder part 42. The predetermined number of the protrudes 45 may be two or more.

The hooking device 18 has two radial positions including an inserting position and a locking position as shown in FIG. 8.

The angle between the inserting position and the locking position is determined by the number of the protrudes 45. The angle is 90 degrees in FIG. 8.

The shelf fixing device 100 further includes a propping plate 60 for propping the horizontal supporting plate 14 against the gravitational force as shown in FIGS. 2 through 4.

The propping plate 60 is right triangular. The propping plate 60 includes a first leg part 61, a second leg part 62, and a hypotenuse part 63. The first leg part 61 is attached to the bottom surface 25 of the horizontal supporting plate 14, and the second leg part 62 is attached to the first wall 21 of the vertical supporting plate 12 as shown in FIG. 4. The propping plate 60 meets the vertical supporting plate 12 and the horizontal supporting plate 14 substantially perpendicularly. The propping plate 60 may be integrated with the vertical supporting plate 12 and the horizontal supporting plate 14.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference to different embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variations in form, detail, compositions and operation may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the accompanying claims. 

1. A shelf fixing device for attaching a shelf to an internal wall of a refrigerator comprising: a) a vertical supporting plate comprising a first wall and a second wall separated by an edge; b) a horizontal supporting plate comprising a top surface and a bottom surface separated by an edge, wherein a part of the edge is attached to the first wall of the vertical supporting plate; c) a stopping plate comprising a first wall and a second wall separated by an edge, wherein the a part of the edge is attached to the edge of the horizontal supporting plate upward from the top surface; and d) a hooking device comprising a cylinder part with first and second ends, a plurality of hooking gap, and a predetermined number of protrudes extending substantially perpendicularly and radially from the side surface the cylinder part, wherein the first end of the cylinder part is attached to the second wall of the vertical supporting plate, wherein the protrude is aligned with the second end of the cylinder part, wherein the hooking gap is defined by the protrude, the side of the cylinder part, and the second wall of the vertical supporting plate.
 2. The shelf fixing device of claim 1, wherein the vertical supporting plate, the horizontal supporting plate, the stopping plate, and the hooking device are integrated into one body and form a shelf clip.
 3. The shelf fixing device of claim 2, wherein the hooking device is adapted to detachably attach the shelf clip to the internal wall of the refrigerator.
 4. The shelf fixing device of claim 3, wherein the shelf clip is made of plastic.
 5. The shelf fixing device of claim 1, wherein the first wall and the top surface of the horizontal supporting plate meet each other substantially perpendicularly.
 6. The shelf fixing device of claim 1, further comprising: a) an accepting hole provided on the internal wall of the refrigerator for accepting the hooking device, having a shape on the internal wall adapted to accept the hooking device and to lock the hooking device by rotating the hooking device by a predetermined angle; and b) a shelf board comprising a top surface, a bottom surface, and a plurality of ends, wherein each end of the shelf board is adapted to straddle the horizontal supporting plate and the stopping plate.
 7. The shelf fixing device of claim 6, wherein the accepting hole comprises an entrance part, a holding bottleneck part, and a backroom allowing the protrude's rotation.
 8. The shelf fixing device of claim 7, wherein the depth of the holding bottleneck part is commensurate with the thickness of the internal wall of the refrigerator.
 9. The shelf fixing device of claim 8, wherein the depth of the holding bottleneck part is smaller than the thickness of the internal wall of the refrigerator.
 10. The shelf fixing device of claim 7, wherein the vertical supporting plate, the horizontal supporting plate, the stopping plate, and the hooking device are integrated into one body and form a shelf clip, wherein the shelf straddles three or more shelf clips.
 11. The shelf fixing device of claim 7, wherein the shelf board further comprises a plurality of recess on the bottom of the shelf board, wherein the recess has a shape adapted to partially accept the horizontal supporting plate and the stopping plate.
 12. The shelf fixing device of claim 1, wherein the protrudes are disposed evenly around the circumference of the cylinder.
 13. The shelf fixing device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the protrudes is aligned vertically upward from the center of the cylinder part.
 14. The shelf fixing device of claim 13, wherein the predetermined number of the protrudes is two.
 15. The shelf fixing device of claim 13, further comprising: a) an accepting hole provided on the internal wall of the refrigerator for accepting the hooking device, having a shape on the internal wall adapted to accept the hooking device and to lock the hooking device by rotating the hooking device by a predetermined angle; and b) a shelf board comprising a top surface, a bottom surface, and a plurality of ends, wherein each end of the shelf board is adapted to straddle the horizontal supporting plate and the stopping plate, wherein the vertical supporting plate, the horizontal supporting plate, the stopping plate, and the hooking device are integrated into one body and form a shelf clip.
 16. The shelf fixing device of claim 15, wherein the hooking device has two radial positions comprising an inserting position and a locking position.
 17. The shelf fixing device of claim 16, wherein the angle between the inserting position and the locking position is determined by the number of the protrudes.
 18. The shelf fixing device of claim 17, wherein at least one of the protrudes is aligned vertically upward from the center of the cylinder part in a locking position.
 19. The shelf fixing device of claim 1, further comprising a propping plate for propping the horizontal supporting plate against the gravitational force.
 20. The shelf fixing device of claim 19, wherein the propping plate is right triangular comprising a first leg part, a second leg part, and a hypotenuse part, wherein the first leg part is attached to the bottom surface of the horizontal supporting plate, wherein the second leg part is attached to the first wall of the vertical supporting plate, wherein the propping plate meets the vertical supporting plate and the horizontal supporting plate substantially perpendicularly, wherein the propping plate is integrated with the vertical supporting plate and the horizontal supporting plate. 